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When you’re interviewing for a network engineering position, it’s important that you come prepared.
You work in a high-demand, technical field that companies heavily rely on. They’re going to want to make sure that they’ll be able to trust you and your expertise if they hire you, so interviewers are likely to ask you a wide variety of questions.
While you can never be completely prepared for every interview question, practicing your answers to some of the most common ones is a great way to help get yourself into the right frame of mind and have some idea of what you want to say.
In this article, you’ll find 27 common interview questions with sample answers that you can use to practice with. It’s also a good idea to review the more technical aspects of your field so that you’ll be prepared for those questions when they come your way as well.
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Tell me about yourself. This is a go-to icebreaker for many interviewers, so it’s best to have an answer prepared. Try to think of one or two things that set you apart from other candidates to include in your answer, whether those are your technical skills, experiences, or passions.
Example Answer:
“I’ve been a network engineer for six years, and during that time, I’ve worked for startups, Fortune 500 companies, and everywhere in between. I love getting to solve problems and build the network foundation that many organizations don’t think about but rely on each and every day.”
Tell me about your experience as a network engineer. Before you get to your interview, prepare for this question by looking over your resume again. Take note of the highlights and turning points in your career, and bring them up in your answer.
Make sure you add information that isn’t on your resume. What did you learn in each position? How do they all link together to form your current skill set?
Example Answer:
“I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, and I started working at the university as a network engineer right after graduation. That position gave me two years of great on-the-job training, and I was able to get a job at Tristate Banks, where I worked for five years as a network engineer.”
“During my time there, I was able to help scale up the company’s systems to meet its needs as it expanded from 200 employees my first year to 1,500 four years later. Since it was a bank, I also got experience keeping up with the top security measures.”
Why did you become a network engineer? Your interviewers want to get to know you and hear what makes you tick. They also want to know if you really are passionate about your work or if you’re just looking to make it through the day and to your paycheck.
Use this question as an opportunity to share your journey and what you’re passionate about in your work.
Example Answer:
“In college, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. I knew I liked computers, though, so I decided to take an entry-level class in the network engineering program. I found it fascinating, and then when I discovered that this field allows you to support companies in a behind-the-scenes capacity, which I also love, I was sold.”
What do you like best about being a network engineer? This is another question that allows interviewers to hear what you love about the job and to see what you would bring to their team.
Example Answer:
“I enjoy almost every aspect of my work, but I especially enjoy the problem-solving side of it. I get excited about hunting down root problems and coming up with creative solutions to fix them. I especially love when I get to work with a team to do so.”
What do you like least about being a network engineer? Your interviewers want to know what challenges and drains you and how you respond to those things. This gives them insight into your attitude about the hard parts of your job, and it helps them determine if this position would be a good fit for you.
Example Answer:
“Even though I generally enjoy my work, I do find myself getting discouraged when I accomplish something big and no one outside of the department is able to appreciate it.”
“I know that’s a part of the job, though, and I remind myself that I don’t understand all of their accomplishments either. I also work to focus on the satisfaction of a job well done and celebrating with my colleagues rather than waiting for a pat on the back from the rest of the organization.”
What is your greatest strength? This is another good opportunity to share what sets you apart as a candidate for this position. Don’t brag, but be honest and explain it from the perspective of how you’ll help the company rather than how you’re better than everyone else.
Example Answer:
“I’m good at teaching people outside of my department how to troubleshoot for themselves. Whether it’s resetting a password or uploading a picture to the website, I find that many people are able to do those types of tasks, they just don’t know how or are afraid to.”
“I make it my goal to empower these coworkers to take on those tasks for themselves when possible. I love helping them with their requests, but if I can cut down on the number of small tasks our department is relied on for, our entire organization will run more smoothly.”
What is your greatest weakness? If you answer this question with “nothing,” you’ll send up an immediate red flag that may cost you a job offer.
Employers know that no one is perfect, and they want to see that you’re self-aware enough to know what your weaknesses are and that you’re working to mitigate them.
Whether your weakness is a soft skill or a technical skill, always end your answer to this question by describing the steps you’re taking to improve.
Example Answer:
“I’m an internal processor, and I’ve had team leaders get frustrated with me in the past because I leave them out of the loop on where I’m at on projects. I don’t do this intentionally, I just forget that they might want to know.”
“So, I’ve started asking my leaders how often they would like updates on a project and then putting reminders in my calendar to provide those. This practice has helped me get into the habit of sharing as I go, and I haven’t had a frustrated manager since I started doing this.”
Tell me about a time when you faced a problem at work. How did you solve it? Companies want to hire problem-solvers, so show your interviewers that you aren’t afraid of facing and overcoming challenges. Tell a story that demonstrates this, and make sure you share the end results of your efforts.
Example Answer:
“One day at my last job, as I was about to leave for the day, our power went out unexpectedly. We had a generator for our main servers, but we were in an unusual heat wave (it was over 100 degrees outside), so I knew they could quickly overheat in the absence of air conditioning.”
“I got permission to run to the hardware store, where I bought a cheap generator and a bunch of fans. I jimmy-rigged air conditioning systems to keep the servers at least somewhat cool if the power didn’t come back on for the night. Sure enough, it stayed out until early the next morning, but the servers hadn’t overheated.”
Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult coworker. How did you handle it? You won’t always naturally get along with everyone you meet in the workplace, so hiring managers want to know how you’ll respond when this happens.
Example Answer:
“I was assigned to a project with a colleague who was known for being standoffish and difficult to work with. He had worked at the company for much longer than I had at that point, so during our first meeting, I asked how things had changed over the years at the organization.”
“Since it wasn’t a personal question, I guess he felt more comfortable talking about it, because we talked for 20 minutes. The project went smoothly, and since then, we’ve gotten along well.”
Tell me about a mistake you made while working as a network engineer. How did you respond? Everyone makes mistakes, so your interviewers want to see how you handle yours. Be truthful about a mistake you made, and wrap up your story by explaining how you ensured it wouldn’t happen again.
Example Answer:
“During my first year on the job, I got too confident and released an update for our website that I hadn’t had anyone else check yet. It ended up shutting down our whole website, which was a big deal, since we do most of our business online.”
“As soon as I figured out what had happened, I told my supervisor, apologized, and asked for help. Thankfully he was able to resolve it quickly, and since then I haven’t released anything major without having someone else look over it first.”
What are three adjectives your coworkers would use to describe you? Your interviewers want to see if you’d fit the organization’s culture well, so they might ask you a question along these lines.
Example Answer:
“I’ve actually had my coworkers describe me as reliable and efficient. I believe they’d also describe me as helpful, because I actually enjoy managing the help desk, which is a task others on my team are eager to give up.”
What is your greatest accomplishment? What is the bullet point on your resume that you’re most proud of? Now is the time to share your success.
Example Answer:
“At my last position, I saw the need for a single sign on system for the organization. My manager told me that I could present my idea to our COO and set up the meeting. After I gave my presentation, the COO said that she liked it and gave me permission to pursue the project.”
“A month later, I had successfully implemented the SSO, and I received many compliments on how helpful it was and how smoothly the process went.”
Where do you see yourself in five years? Your interviewers want to know what your goals are so that they have an idea of whether you’re planning to be there for the long haul or will want to move on soon.
Example Answer:
“I don’t know for sure where I’m going to be in five years, but I’d love to be leading a team of network engineers at that point, ideally at this organization.”
Why do you want to work here? This question is intended to weed out any applicants who are just looking for a paycheck and don’t really care about what happens to the organization as a whole.
While there’s nothing wrong with just needing a job, companies are more likely to hire someone who knows what their organization is about and wants to help further it.
Prepare for this question by researching the company and its values, mission, and vision.
Example Answer:
“I love that the overall mission of this organization is to assist vulnerable women and children around the world, and I’d be honored to get to put my skills to work furthering that mission.”
Walk me through your process for troubleshooting your network configuration. If you get this position, you’re likely going to have to actually do this quite a bit, so explain how you’d do it in detail.
This will give your interviewers a better idea of how you solve problems, what processes you follow, and whether or not you’re willing to ask for help.
Example Answer:
“I first check the obvious places where there might be an issue: network connectivity, hardware failure, or high levels of activity, to name a few. If those are clear, I’d move to my monitoring and analytics tools to see if I can find what’s causing the issues there."
“If I don’t find anything quickly, I’d contact others on my team and in the organization who can help to ask for their input. This way we can get everything up and running as soon as possible.”
What sizes of networks have you engineered? This is another question designed to help interviewers get a better handle on your experience level. As always, try to emphasize what makes you unique.
Example Answer:
“I’ve set up networks for startups with two people in them and for companies of 2,000 people, which has given me some unique perspective on how to design systems for small organizations so that they can easily expand.”
How do you make yourself a better network engineer? Companies want employees who are intentional about improving both their technical skills and their soft skills. Describe what you do to make sure you’re always learning and growing.
Example Answer:
“I make it a goal to attend a professional development class once a month. Last month was a refresher course in JavaScript, and this month’s is a class on collaboration and communication. Sometimes these classes are offered by the company I work for, but others I complete at home in the evenings or on the weekends.”
This industry is always changing. How do you go about staying on top of those changes and innovations? It’s entirely too easy to become obsolete in this industry, so hiring managers want to know they can trust you to stay up-to-date. When you answer this question, add some more weight to your response by including details like publication titles and when you read them.
Example Answer:
“I attend a monthly morning coffee meeting for network engineers to listen to speakers talk about new developments and ideas, and I set aside time every Friday morning to read several blogs, including Network World, Cisco Blogs, and Network Computing.”
What are the OSI reference model layers? Since you work in a technical field, be ready for technical questions like this one. Employers want to make sure that you know what you’re doing, so they might ask you to describe past projects or answer questions that you haven’t had to think about since you started working.
If you don’t know an answer, simply say, “I don’t know, but I’ll look it up and get back to you,” and then make sure you actually do follow up with the answer.Example Answer:
“The OSI layers are the physical layer, the data link layer, the network layer, the transport layer, the session layer, the presentation layer, and the application layer.”
Tell me about a time you’ve scaled a network to accommodate an organization’s growth. As you know, companies rely heavily on their network systems being able to support growth. Your potential employer is likely looking for someone who can help them do this smoothly and effectively, so there’s a good chance you’ll run across a question like this.
If you don’t have any experience in this area, you can talk about how you’ve set up your designs to allow for expansion or what you would hypothetically do in this situation.
Example Answer:
“When I first started working for a startup company, they had already grown from five employees to 15 and tripled their number of website visitors in one year.”
“They were projecting more growth at that rate, so I created an on-premises network that was bigger than they needed at that moment in order to accommodate that expansion. I also integrated those resources with a web services company in order to expand it further.”
Explain how you’d limit data loss in a network design. This is a question that many companies care deeply about, so you’d best be ready to answer it.
Example Answer:
“I make it a habit to incorporate multiple systems for securing company data, and usually that includes a combination of regular backups, distributed network storage locations, and disaster recovery systems.”
What experience have you had working with development teams and other departments? Companies don’t just want employees who are skilled at their jobs, they also want people who can successfully collaborate with other departments and teams.
When you answer this question, highlight your communication, conflict resolution, and project management skills.
Example Answer:
“I worked closely with our marketing and development teams for the four years I spent at my last position. We were all intentional about sharing our individual goals so that the others would best know how to support them. As a result, our three departments had some of the best relationships in the company.”
Tell me about a time you helped out a team member. Your potential employer wants to know that you’ll be working to further the team, not just crossing off your own to-do’s. Talk about a time you jumped in to help out a colleague, even if it was in a quiet, behind-the-scenes way.
Example Answer:
“During my first job, I had a team member who was taking care of a sick family member. She was a good worker, but that added stress and time off of work had caused her to fall behind. I decided to work ahead on my projects and let her know that I had set aside an hour of every day to help her with her tasks.”
“She thanked me, and together we were able to help her get caught up. Our manager even told us how impressed he was that we had stayed on track.”
Tell me about a time you were under a lot of pressure. How did you handle it? Your interviewers ask this question to see how you respond to stress and high-pressure situations. Share a story about a time you handled this well.
Example Answer:
“Only a few months after I began my first full-time job, my boss was called away due to a family emergency. I was able to talk to him via email, but other than that I was on my own.”
“We had been working on a major network update, and I was going to have to launch it by myself. This was a lot of pressure on a young employee, so I quickly updated my more experienced colleagues with the situation and asked if they’d be willing to help check my work as they had time.”
“They agreed, and I then created a calendar of deadlines for each of the update steps so that I would be able to keep everything on track. With a little teamwork and a lot of organization, the update went off without a hitch.”
What is your ideal work environment? This question is designed to help your interviewers determine if you’d be a good cultural fit for the organization. Be honest in your answer, but also make sure you communicate that you’re flexible.
Example Answer:
“I work well in most environments, whether I’m in a noisy workspace or a private office, but I do like to have some kind of access to my colleagues in order to collaborate with them.”
What is your ideal management style to work under? Since one of the main purposes of an interview is to see if you’d be a good fit for the organization’s culture, it’s likely that you’ll need to answer a question like this.
Be truthful in your answer, but also try to highlight how you’re willing and able to work with a variety of personalities.
Example Answer:
“I have worked with and adapted to a variety of management styles, but I really thrive when I can go to my manager with updates and questions throughout a project’s progress. I don’t need to have my hand held, but I like to have that feedback as I move along to make sure I’m on the right track.”
Why should we hire you? This is the queen of all interview questions, the one that summarizes the whole interview and allows you to make your pitch about how great you are and why you’re different from all the other candidates they’re interviewing.
As you answer, talk about what you’d bring to the organization and why you’d be a valuable hire.
Example Answer:
“With my background working for both very large and very small companies, I’d bring a unique perspective to your mid-size company that would allow me to help you both operate at your best now and easily expand in the future.”